Lakers Get Point Across : They Race Past Highly Regarded SuperSonics, 114-103

Xavier McDaniel says he doesn’t have time to keep up with his magazine reading, so it was news to him that one prominent sports weekly--known for its initials (SI) almost as much as McDaniel is known for one of his (X)--picked the Seattle SuperSonics to wrest the West from the Lakers.

He also doesn’t have much use for calendars, either, which he made clear Friday night after the Lakers had throttled Seattle, 114-103, about as easily as McDaniel had wrapped his long fingers around ex-Laker Wes Matthews’ windpipe last season.

“They say the Lakers are getting old,” said McDaniel, who was no better than a lower-case x at the Forum Friday, though he was about the best the SuperSonics had to offer outside of an ex-Clipper, Michael Cage, who had 16 points and 17 rebounds.

“I don’t buy that,” said McDaniel, who had 20 points, making 8 of 18 shots. “They’re not getting old, they’re just getting better.”

Don’t even talk to McDaniel about any of the new Lakers, like Orlando Woolridge. There may be new faces, but he said it’s the same old story.

“I don’t care who they have--they have eight good players every year,” McDaniel said. “What the hell, if someone is stupid enough to let them get a Mychal Thompson or Orlando Woolridge, what can you do?”

Friday night, the SuperSonics could do little but watch the Lakers exploit the absence of Seattle point guard Nate McMillan, who is out with a sprained ankle. The Lakers ran up an early lead, then sustained it in the face of little SuperSonic resistance.

The Lakers took the lead for good 5 minutes into the game on a layup by James Worthy--2 of his 27 points. They were ahead by 6 at the quarter, 30-24, and 8 at halftime, 56-48, then broke it open in the third quarter, when Byron Scott scored 15 of his game-high 29 points and the Lakers shot 76.4%.

Without Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who scored 4 points and did not play in the fourth quarter, the lead grew to 19 points, 108-89, before Pat Riley cleared his bench.

Seattle shot 40%, missed 11 of 14 attempts from 3-point range and committed 24 turnovers.

“We had to go out and play a physical game, and we couldn’t let them take one away from us in our backyard,” said Scott, who is playing the game as if he were in his own driveway.

Not only is he scoring--62 points in the last 2 games--but his defense has been extraordinary. Seattle gunner Dale Ellis wound up with just 15 points--he took an uncharacteristically low 12 shots--and Scott rejected one of his shots with a spectacular leaping block, his third such rejection in three games.

They were the kind of blocks usually performed only by Michael Cooper.

“He’s playing unbelievably,” said Magic Johnson, who was merely believable with 16 assists and 11 points. “He’s just playing the total game.”

While the Lakers were winning for the fourth time in five games, the sum of Seattle’s parts totaled its second straight loss after three wins.

“No fire,” SuperSonic Coach Bernie Bickerstaff said. “We just didn’t respond, which isn’t characteristic of this team. It appeared we were in awe of the Los Angeles Lakers.”

McDaniel could only hope that things will be better next Thursday, when the SuperSonics get another shot at the Lakers in Seattle.

“Let them come up to Seattle Coliseum 41 times a year and see how many wins they come up with,” McDaniel said.

“This is the only year in my 4 years they’ve beat us like this,” he added, “other than in the playoffs.”

That was two seasons ago, when the Lakers swept Seattle in four games of the Western Conference finals. If the SuperSonics are ready to challenge again, it obviously wasn’t apparent Friday.

Bickerstaff said he had asked the impossible from Derrick McKey, his second-year small forward, who wound up playing point guard--and guarding Magic Johnson.

“We asked Derrick McKey to do something he’s not ready to do at this point in his career,” Bickerstaff said. “We asked him to play Magic, we asked him to play point guard. That wasn’t fair.”

Seattle’s backcourt made for a better trivia question than a challenge for Scott, who mixed in 6 rebounds and 4 steals with his 9 baskets--two of them 3-pointers--and 9 free throws.

The trivia question comes in the form of 5-foot 10-inch Avery Johnson. The question: Who is he?

Glad you asked. Johnson led National College Athletic Assn. Division I players in assists in each of the last two seasons at Southern University. Friday, he distinguished himself by being the only player on the floor smaller than Laker rookie David Rivers, but at least he was able to get the ball across midcourt, a task the Laker reserves failed to accomplish twice.

Riley, however, was charitable in his judgment of Rivers and Co. “They were five cold guys dealing with a maniacal pressing defense,” the coach said. “That wasn’t easy.”

He didn’t even scold Tony Campbell, who ignored Mark McNamara, standing alone under the basket, to dribble in for a basket himself.

“He probably didn’t want to turn the ball over,” Riley said with a laugh. “Why talk about the last 2 minutes? I’d rather talk about the first 46.”